Convicted rapist back in court

Mishawaka man accused of stalking; served 18 years for high-profile 1978 cases.

Mishawaka man accused of stalking; served 18 years for high-profile 1978 cases.

December 18, 2006|By PATRICK M. OÂ?CONNELL Tribune Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND Â? A 50-year-old Mishawaka man who served 18 years in prison for the 1978 rapes of two elderly women was back in court Monday, charged with stalking his ex-girlfriend.

David L. Pace pleaded guilty in 1980 to raping two South Bend women, ages 72 and 79, after he broke into their homes and assaulted them at knife-point.

PaceÂ?s case drew significant coverage in The Tribune, especially after his bond was reduced and he fled before his trial started. The then-22-year-old was arrested by FBI agents in 1979 at a Milwaukee hotel after nearly four months on the run.

Pace was returned to South Bend, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 35 years in prison. He served 18 years, according to Indiana Department of Correction records, and was released in 1998.

Pace is now charged with stalking, a Class C felony, resisting law enforcement and residential entry for allegedly harassing a 51-year-old South Bend woman, according to court documents.

The woman, who described Pace as her ex-boyfriend to county police, filed seven police reports against Pace since June, said St. Joseph County police spokeswoman Jaimee Thirion.

In the stalking case, Pace is accused of cutting the womanÂ?s telephone line, damaging her pickup truck, ringing her doorbell and leaving threatening notes, according to court documents. The woman reported Pace had been harassing her for two weeks before he allegedly began trying to bust into her home and left the notes on consecutive nights in November, police said.

Â?You are a cold person,Â? Pace allegedly wrote in one of the notes, included in the charging documents. Â?You know that all I know is you! IÂ?m not going to forget you trying to send me to jail. And to think I did 18 years, and you try to send me back. P.S. well that didnÂ?t work. You belong to me and I to you. YouÂ?ll see, I refuse to love without you!!!Â?

A day later, Pace allegedly left another note.

Â?Things are going to be happening soon,Â? the note reads. Â?You think you got all the bases covered. IÂ?ll get to the place where I canÂ?t deal with this anymore and (expletiveÂ?s) going to hit the fan.Â?

Pace also is accused of leading police on a high-speed pursuit after officers tried to apprehend him after an investigation at the womanÂ?s house and residential entry when he allegedly tried to break into a manÂ?s home to elude officers, according to the charges.

Pace is being held at the St. Joseph County Jail, where his bond for all three cases is set at $7,000 cash, officials said. A judge denied his motion to modify bond at MondayÂ?s hearing.